Manuel Anchondo, the 2012 Youth of the Year, with his parents, Manuel and Maria.

And what do you want to be when you grow up?

Ask Manuel Anchondo and the answer is “robotics.” Anchondo, who in May was in the top six percent of his Adams City High School graduating class, plans to learn all he can about robotic technology when he enters Colorado State University this fall as a mechanical engineering major.

Anchondo is the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver Youth of the Year and was honored at a dinner that brought 980 civic leaders to the Hyatt Regency Convention Center on a recent Saturday night.

Others honored were the Junior Youths of the Year, Daniela Casas, a member of the Jefferson County Branch, and Karol Martinez, who, like Anchondo, is a member of the Commerce City Branch. Jim Bershof, Jim Howell and Bob Shopneck were given the Champion of Youth awards.

Anchondo came to the United States with his family when he was 6 years old. Those who know him say he used the challenges that come with living in a new country to develop resiliency and a will to succeed.

In high school, where he maintained a grade point average of 3.8, he was a member of the National Honor Society, served on the student council, played varsity golf and baseball and was president of the Math Club. He also was enrolled in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.

The dinner, presented by DaVita, was chaired by James Mulligan, Joan Burleson, Denise O’Leary and Kent Thiry. Thiry is DaVita’s chairman and chief executive officer and with his wife, Denise O’Leary, also served as a presenting sponsor.

Guests included Tom O’Donnell, chair of the Boys & Girls Club board and the managing partner at Holland & Hart; Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey; former Denver Bronco Billy Thompson; Mary and Tim Anschutz (she heads the Boys & Girls Club’s associate board of directors); Steve, Kathy and Ben McConahey; Larry and Mary Kay Mueller; Richmond American Homes president David Mandarich; Ellen Stewart and Donald Vancil (she’s an attorney with Berenbaum Weinshienk, one of the dinner’s Diamond sponsors); Fred and Jane Hamilton; Dan Igoe, co-founder of PURE Brand Communications and a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs board; Larry Holdren, a partner at PURE, and his wife, Sara; Sonnie and Dr. Richard Talley; Chuck and Sally Newcom; Ron Otsuka from the Denver Art Museum; Michael and Pegi Touff; and John Arigoni, the president/CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, with his wife, Susan.